Rose felt the falling sensation again before it abruptly ended and she was deposited roughly on her bum on the floor of the mansion. She glared up at Harry who was staring over her head, lost in the memory, and regained her feet. Just as she was about to ask him what was wrong, she heard a hissing voice from behind her.
"Potter," the voice said maliciously. Turning around quickly, she was shocked speechless for the umpteenth time that night. Standing a few paces away was a monster of a man. His skin was pale and tight against his skeletal frame and his black robes hung loosely from his shoulders. His nose was simply two slits on his face and his red eyes glowed from under his hairless brow. Rose thought he looked like a humanoid snake.
But even more shocking than the monster, was the man he was dueling. It was Harry, but not as Rose knew him. The memory-Harry was older, wearing all black and his face was crisscrossed with scars; the lightning bolt scar bleeding freely down into his eyes. His eyes were glowing a bright green and the two combatants paused in their destructive duel. "You will pay for what you have done to me!" The red eyed snake man snapped. Rose couldn't help but shiver at the sound of the man's- no monster's voice. She knew she should know who he was, but her mind was drawing a blank.
"Voldemort," memory-Harry spat viciously. Rose gasped in realization. Now she knew where she recognized his voice from. It was the same voice she heard accompanying her parents voices when ever dementors got near her. Despite the proof in front of her, however, she fell deeper and deeper into confusion. When had Harry ever met Voldemort? She wondered. "And you will pay dearly for what you have done to me and everyone I care about. You killed my parents, my friends, and too many others to name. Those acts are unforgivable to me."
"Indeed," said silkily. "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long, Harry. I will finish what I started that Halloween many years ago. The Potter line ends today."
It was like Rose had finally opened a birthday present that she already knew she was getting. She was pretty sure that Harry wasn't her cousin. He wasn't even a brother, but he was still a Potter. No, Harry was more like another version of herself. She now had the what, but she was still missing the why. She could only hope Harry would answer her questions when they were done. With that realization, she turned her attention back to the memory that was playing out in front of her eyes. memory-Harry had his wand calmly pointed at memory-Voldemorts chest and Rose was proud to see that he showed no sign of fear. Then, as if by an unspoken agreement, both wizards lunged at each other. They wielded their wands like swords; red light at the tip of memory-Harry's familiar holly wand, green at the tip of the Dark Lord's.
She couldn't believe how fast and amazing the duel before her was. She truly thought she had been a prodigy at Defense Against the Dark Arts, but the duel she was watching made her realize just how woefully inadequate she really was. The fight was like a dance, and the two extremely powerful wizards fired curses and hexes back and forth, doing more damage to the landscape than each other. Voldemort she expected to use the Dark Arts and did not surprise her as he was of course, a Dark Lord. memory-Harry on the other hand was using a mixture of all kinds of combat. Light magic, dark magic, muggle martial arts, and then her surprise, Harry began apparating while wielding a sword. Memory-Voldemort began to hesitate as memory-Harry would apparate behind him and slash with the sword of Gryffindor, only to disapparate to another location and cast a curse at him. Every apparition memory-Harry made was utterly silent, which made her uncertain where he would appear next.
It was clear to Rose that memory-Harry had the upper hand in this fight…
Rose began to wonder, though, why Voldemort didn't simply apparate as well. "Magnificent," hissed Voldemort with something akin to pride in his voice. "You're strong Potter, who would have thought you of all people would dabble in the Dark Arts or be capable of apparating through apparition wards?" he said, answering Rose's unasked question
Harry replied by conjuring a whip made of black flame from the tip of his wand. "You never did find out the rest of the prophecy, did you Riddle," memory-Harry hissed mockingly. "And the dark lord shall mark him as his equal," memory-Harry recited, seemingly lost in his memories. Memory-Voldemort used the opportunity to shoot a killing curse at Harry, confident that it would hit and end his life. memory-Harry simply dropped the sword of Gryffindor; which faded away, and raised his empty hand. An opaque bluish shield sprang up in front of him and the killing curse clanged loudly off of it and careened off into the ceiling and dislodged a large chunk of plaster. "But he will have power the dark lord knows not." memory-Harry continued, lashing the whip forward to tightly bind Voldemort.
"Nothing can block the Avada Kedavra…" The Dark Lord said with wide eyes. The man before him was much stronger then he had ever thought possible. To deflect the killing curse; wandlessly even, would take immense power, and memory-Harry had done it almost effortlessly. If Harry had the ability to do that wandlessly, what else could he do? He would no doubt be unpredictable in a duel. Binding spells and locking charms would be worthless in a fight against him if he could lift the spells without a wand. Dumbledore and himself were only able to use small amounts magic without a wand, but the Potter could clearly use it for combat. Memory-Voldemort focused all his power on dispelling the black fire whip that was slowly crushing his black soul.
"Of course, nothing is normal for me, Riddle," memory-Harry said sarcastically, not bothered that memory-Voldemort had dispelled the black fire whip, as the effort had left the dark wizard on his hands and knees and gasping for breath. "Thanks to YOU!"
"What… what kind of spell was that?" Memory-Voldemort said stuttering for the first time in decades. Nothing he had encountered in his long life had been anything like that whip.
"Why should I tell you?" replied memory-Harry. "You won't need to know where you're dead." memory-Harry smiled vindictively when he felt a surge of magic from Voldemort, and knew he was trying to dispel the anti-apparation and portkey jinxes on the area; Lord Voldemort was trying to run away. "Oh, don't bother Riddle. You won't be able to dispel those jinxes. Hermione made them herself before she died." Memory-Harry sneered nastily at the prone figure of the Dark Lord. "How does it feel to know a mudblood helped in the cause of your downfall? You won't be leaving this battle field alive."
Memory-Voldemort's glare intensified at the messy haired youth, but memory-Harry seemed unbothered by it. Instead, memory-Harry exuded an aura of confidence as he glowered right back at Voldemorts prone form. "Goodbye, Riddle," memory-Harry hissed softly. In a single movement, memory-Harry lunged forward and summoned the sword of Gryffindor to his hand and swung it in a wide arc. Voldemort raised his wand weakly to defend himself but only succeded in getting his hand slashed off at the wrist. Voldemort out a horrifying scream and memory-Harry reversed his swing, cutting the Dark lord other arm completely off.
"Even if I fall today Potter, I will still live!" Voldemort shouted, hysteria lacing his voice. "I have already obtained immortality."
memory-Harry surprised everyone watching the duel and laughed loudly. "Do you mean the Horcruxes?" He asked. "Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to attack you without making sure I would be able to kill you? I'm surprised you didn't realize what I had done when I killed Nagini before coming after you," he said with a chuckle at the helpless Dark Lords expense. Voldemort ceased his struggling and for the first time in his life, stared at someone with absolute fear. "Oh yes, you know what I am talking about don't you?" memory-Harry continued with a very Malfoy-esque drawl. "Yes, I have destroyed all of your Horcruxes. The Gaunt family ring, your diary, the cup of Helga Hufflepuff, the crown of Rowena Ravenclaw, the crest of Gryffindor, the necklace of Salazar Slytherin, and of course, your pet Nagini."
Voldemort was struck dumb at this revelation, knowing his death was truly at hand. He simply sat there, defeated and weak, as memory-Harry lunged forward again; his sword flashing in the dim light. A moment later, Voldemort's head slid off his neck and a fountain of black blood sprayed from the stump, soaking Harry's battle robes with dark, inhuman ichor.
And then, the pensieve memory ended and the two of them were lifted from the bowl. Rose was left staring at a haunted looking Harry sitting next to her.
"Now, I know you have questions, and you deserve the answers…truthful answers, so I have one more thing to tell you before I start explaining myself." He said. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of clear liquid. "Do you know what this is?" He asked.
Rose shook her head negative and Harry began to grumble under his breath about Rose's education. If all this ended favorably, he would make sure she did better in school than he did. "This is Veritaserum; the strongest truth serum in existence," he explained. "Three drops of this and you would be forced to reveal all of your secrets to whoever asks for two hours, or until the antidote," Harry held up another vial of slightly milky liquid, "is given. This potion is restricted from use outside of the Ministry and anyone who is caught using it without proper authorization will be put in Azkaban, without a trial, for life."
Rose had a good idea at what Harry had been planning to do, and gulped nervously. She knew first hand from her godfather, Sirius, what Azkaban was like, and wouldn't wish that on anyone…well, except maybe Voldemort and Wormtail. Her eyes were locked on the seemingly harmless looking liquid in the vial that Harry was holding and she barely made out his next words.
"If at any time during my explanation, you want me to take some of this, just say so." He reassured her. Rose nodded hesitantly and looked into Harry's eyes expectantly.
"I trust you, Harry." Rose said simply.
"Rose, I'm sorry," started Harry. "I really didn't mean to lie to you. I just wanted to protect you, but I didn't know just how…vulnerable and lost you were feeling. After seeing how you were close to losing it, I decided I should reveal to you who I really am and save you the trouble of having to wonder what in the world is going on around you. I want you to know that regardless of how things go here, I will always be there for you, okay?" He waited for Rose to acknowledge him before continuing.
Looking away for a moment, Harry took a second to organize his thoughts. "Now, as I'm sure you've already figured out, I am not your cousin. I'm not even sure what you would call me, but I am a Potter," said Harry. "I guess the best explanation I can come up with is, I am you if you had been born a boy."
Rose blinked pensively and waited for Harry to continue.
"What I want to tell you tonight is who I really am, where I'm from, and exactly how your name was put into the Goblet of Fire." Harry somehow knew what her next question would be and answered before she had a chance to speak. "And yes, it has everything to do with the dream you had over the summer." Rose seemed placated at this, but Harry still noticed that she was shaking slightly; whether with anticipation or with fear, he wasn't sure, but he was happy that she was calm none the less.
"Who are you, really?" Rose blurted before Harry had a chance to continue.
"My name is Harry James Potter, the son of James and Lily Evans Potter, and I am, in reality, twenty two years old. I am from an alternate dimension where you were born a boy and I am that boy. In my dimension everything that happened to you, happened to me. What you just saw was my final battle with Voldemort. Two years after that fight, after traveling around the Europe, I was somehow sent to this alternate reality, and de-aged four years…" replied Harry. "I have yet to figure out how or why I was sent here but when I do find out, I will tell you if you want to know."
Harry paused to give Rose the opportunity to ask some questions and she did not disappoint. She had so many questions to ask Harry that she didn't know where to begin, so she started with the logical one. "So, if you're older than me, but you are me, does that mean that you know the future?" Harry nodded slowly and thoughtfully. "So…that means that Voldemort is going to come back?"
"He's planning on using your blood in a potion to create another body for himself." Harry said. Seeing the confusion on Rose's face, he elaborated. "The tournament is all an elaborate plan to lure you to a graveyard in Little Hangleton where Voldemort will capture you and steal some of your blood. Your name was put in the Goblet of Fire by a death eater impersonating Alastor Moody so that they could guide you to the cup. Remember, I told you that it was made into a port key? It took me and Cedric to the graveyard?"
Rose nodded, stunned at this revelation. "Wait…Professor Moody is a death eater?" Harry nodded and Rose sat back heavily on the sofa with a thoughtful look on her face. A few minutes went by and Rose's expression became crestfallen. Harry knew what she was thinking; that from here on out there was nothing but sorrow. Harry hurried to reassure her.
"Rose," He said gently, and he lifted her chin so that she was looking in his eyes. "I'm not going to let any of this happen to you. I care about you far too much already to let you go through any of that."
Tears began to roll down the girls cheeks and she pulled away from Harry's hands. All this information was almost more than she could handle right now. After everything that had happened to her in the few months that she had been back at Hogwarts, perhaps the revelation that her new found cousin wasn't really her cousin was the hardest to take in. She stared imploringly into Harry's eyes and began to sob in earnest. "If you care about me so much," She said accusingly. "Then why did you lie to me?"
Harry sighed and stared at his lap. "If you were in my position," He asked, shaking his head slightly. "What would you do?"
Rose thought for a second and then answered meekly, calming down a bit. "Probably the same thing that you did," she said.
"Then you understand that I didn't want to cause you undue stress or hurt your feelings. I just wanted to protect you."
Rose's sobs redouble, and Harry fought the urge to wrap her in a warm comforting hug. Now was not the time, and he wasn't even sure if she wanted one. Instead, Harry did the only thing he could do and soldiered on. "When I arrived here, in this dimension, my only thought was to find out how and why and a way to get back to where I came from," he said. Rose looked imploringly up at Harry, silently willing him to make things make sense again. "But then, I heard someone crying in the woods, and I met you. Then I got to know you, and I knew that I couldn't leave you alone." Harry was a bit surprised when Rose threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly around the middle. He wrapped his arms around her slight shoulders and held her until her sobs subsided.
"Sorry," she said bashfully once she stopped crying. Harry shrugged, an equally shy look on his face.
"'S ok…" he muttered. He noticed Rose wiping her eyes and he wandlessly conjured a clean hanky for her to dry them with.
"Who?" Rose suddenly asked.
Harry blinked bemusedly, unsure of what she meant. "Excuse me?"
Rose hesitated for a second before explaining. "You never mentioned what happened to any of our…my…er…your friends. Merlin this is confusing…" she paused for a second then shook her head before continuing. "What happened to them?"
Harry stared into Rose's eyes; eyes so much like his own, for a few minutes before coming to a decision. He knew that Rose wanted to know; she wouldn't have asked otherwise, but he asked anyway. Rose nodded quickly and Harry explained. He decided to start with the most important people to him. "Sirius was murdered at the end of my fifth year during a battle at the ministry. Dumbledore was murdered at the end of my sixth, and in the middle of my seventh year both Remus and his new wife were killed while on their honeymoon."
Rose's face drained of all color and she looked like a child that had just been told that Christmas had been cancelled forever.
"Sirius and Remus, die?" She squeaked pitifully. "What- what about Ron, Hermione and Ginny?" She continued, her chin quivering with emotion.
Harry sighed softly and told her.
"About six months after Dumbledore was killed, all the Weasleys except Percy and Ron went into hiding somewhere in America. Ron stayed behind to help Hermione and I find a way to kill Voldemort, but he didn't stay with us for very long. Turned out that he only stayed behind because he thought he loved Hermione. She didn't return his feelings and it broke him. He killed Hermione that night out of jealousy; simply because she told him that she loved me instead, and he ran off to join Voldemort." Harry's eyes reflected the pain the memories evoked in him.
Rose thought about that for a moment. She could definitely see that happening with Ron, and she was glad that she was a girl and didn't have to deal with Hermione having a crush on her…she hoped. "What about Ginny?" She asked. "I find it hard to believe that she would just let you take Ron and Hermione and not her," She said. One difference between herself and Harry was that she was better friends with Ginny than with Hermione. She was sure that she knew Ginny better than Harry.
"Well, you're right about that," Harry conceded. "She wasn't happy, especially when I broke up with her."
"Waitaminue," Rose said in a rush. "You mean to tell me that you and Ginny were…" She poked the tips of her index fingers together a few times. "Together?"
To his credit, Harry flushed in embarrassment and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, well…" he trailed off. Rose simply smiled knowingly at Harry, and he pointedly ignored her triumphant look.
"I'll bet that Ginny was really peeved with you after that." Rose chimed.
Harry laughed bitterly at the bad memories. "Actually, she wasn't nearly as angry as you'd think," he said a bit sadly. "She told me that she understood, and I promised that, once Voldemort was out of the way, we could be together again…" Harry stared morosely at his shoes, unable to go on.
Rose didn't have to hear Harry say he was madly in love with Ginny; she could tell that he was just by looking at his face. As to separating himself from her… she understood that as well. She'd do the same thing if she were in his position. "You must miss her a lot." She said, laying a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry shook his head slightly.
"Several months after Ron was found to be a death eater, I managed to hunt him down with several other Death Eaters, including some of his inner circle while they were on a raid. I was forced to kill Ron in a duel. Luckily, he hadn't told Voldemort that we knew how he had achieved immortality. Why he didn't- I don't know, but Ginny… when I told her I had killed Ron in a death dater raid, she said some pretty awful stuff about how everything was my fault, my parent's death, Sirius, Hermione. I couldn't stay with her after that." Harry said quietly, not really wanting to talk about Ginny anymore. It was still a sore subject for him. "After Ron died, the rest of the Weasleys went disappeared from the wizarding world."
Rose stared disbelievingly at Harry, unwilling to accept that Ginny would say something so nasty to him; or herself by extension.
"Now," Harry said clearing the lump his throat and pushing all his depression aside. "As to why you're in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, like I said before, Voldemort will need you to be present so that he can resurrect himself. I have a plant to…"
"Hold on a second," Rose cut him off, a bit put out that Harry just went straight back to Voldemort's plans. "So you and Ginny didn't get back together? I suppose with her being in America and all…"
"No," Harry said immediately, looking like he really didn't want to talk about it. "She tried desperately to make up with me after I killed Voldemort, but…what she said just really hurt, you know? I had nightmares for months because of her. It was so bad that I almost died a couple of times to dementors."
Rose sighed, silently relieved that Harry was single. She wasn't exactly sure as to why she was relieved, but she was none the less. "Harry, when you said all the Weasleys went into hiding, you said 'with the exception of Percy and Ron. What about Percy?"
"Percy," growled out Harry. "He became a traitor to the Light side. In the summer between my fourth and fifth years, he had a falling out with the Weasleys. Turned out that he joined Voldemort. A few years later, he reconciled with his family, but it was just a cover. He was really spying for Voldemort…"
Rose simply gaped, but the shock was lessened since Harry had already explained that Ron had become a death eater as well. "I-I honestly can see Ron becoming dark but…Percy? The rule-monger?" she asked skeptically.
Harry let out a short, bitter laugh. "Percy wanted power and money. He insulted his father in their own home and frowned upon everything his family believed in. He didn't trust me or Dumbledore when we said that Voldemort was alive. He said Dumbledore was senile and I was an attention-seeking brat. To be honest, Ron's defection shocked me more than Percy's."
Rose could see where that made sense. Her thoughts turned toward her godfather and former professor. She was morbidly curious as to how they died. "How did…" She began, pausing and worrying her lip uncertainly. She knew that if she were in Harry's position, she wouldn't want to answer her next question, but she really wanted to know. "How did Sirius and Remus die?" She paused again as part of Harry's tale finally registered with her. "No, no, no…How exactly did Dumbledore die? I mean, he's…Dumbledore. The only wizard Voldemort ever feared."
Once again, Harry laughed bitterly. After the fiasco in the Department of Mysteries, Harry's faith in the headmaster had been shattered irrevocably.
"Dumbledore? You make it sound like Dumbledore is invincible. He's far from it; as human as you or me. You can say he was partly the reason why Sirius died in my fifth year. Dumbledore thought it was best that I be treated like a child and hide secrets until I become an adult. I don't really want to talk about it, so lets just say that the reason I hate Snape so much and don't trust Dumbledore came from my disaster of a fifth year." Harry said looking a bit lost. "Sirius was killed fighting his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry growled the name with such vehemence and hatred that Rose flinched. "…Trying to save me from my own stupidity."
Rose glowered at the floor in front of her. 'Bellatrix Lestrange,' she spat mentally, filing the name away in her 'people who should suffer horribly' file in her mind.
"Anyway, as for Remus, he died the day he got married to a person named Nymphadora Tonks, who is by the way, Sirius niece. She should be an Auror right now. You would have loved her. She's a great person. You're supposed to meet her next year, but now that I've changed things I don't know if you will. Either way, you should. I think you'd get along wonderfully. Sorry, I'm getting off track here. Anyhow, both Remus and Tonks were attacked on their wedding night as they were leaving on their honeymoon. For some reason, Voldemort ordered a hit on them…most likely to antagonize me."
Harry went quiet for a short moment and stared at the ground morosely. He could still feel the pain of not being there to save them, while he and his friends were looking for the horcruxes. The only reason he knew of what had happened to Remus and Tonks was because from what he could glean from the Daily Prophet and various order members.
"They fought like heroes… managed to kill nine death eaters before they were forced to detonate a magical bomb in their desperation. They died in the blast, but took every one of the bastards with them."
Rose let out a pained sob; partly at the destroyed expression on Harry's face and partly at the knowledge that the two people she loved most would die in the future. Unsure of what to do, she scooted closer to Harry and wrapped her arms around him in a comforting hug; for Harry and for herself.
"I'm sorry Rose, but that was how things went in my dimension," Harry said softly, returning the hug gratefully. "But I've already said that I'm not going to let that happen here. As for Dumbledore," Harry spat the name like it was a curse word, "Would you believe me if I told you that Dumbledore killed himself?" Harry felt Rose pull away from him with a horrified expression on her pale face. "No, he didn't commit suicide. He let those he trusted beyond anything else be the death of him. Snape murdered him in front of me."
Rose gasped and held Harry tighter, tears streaming down her face again. "I knew it…" Rose said through her tears. "I knew he was a good for nothing bastard. He killed Dumbledore!"
"Yeah, we knew he was an evil git from the start, didn't we?" Harry said calmly, rubbing comforting circles on Rose's back. "Dumbledore just wouldn't believe me. Snape earned Dumbledore's trust after he defected from Voldemort and gave Dumbledore a vital piece of information during the first war."
"What is that?" Rose said wiping the tears away and reluctantly pulling from Harry's arms. She felt so safe when she was there.
"It was the reason that Voldemort went after your…our parents," Harry hissed icily. Rose recoiled at the hatred in Harry's voice. "Snape overheard Professor Trelawney give a prophecy to Dumbledore predicting that a child would be born that would have the power to kill Voldemort. He immediately ran to Voldemort and told him what he had heard… But then he felt bad when he realized that Voldemort was going after our parents and went to Dumbledore to tell him what was going on."
However, Rose didn't hear the last statement; she was stuck on 'was the reason that Voldemort went after your…our parents'. The phrase kept playing over and over in her head and her temper exploded. Harry was taken by surprise at how fast Rose's mood changed.
"Snape is the reason that Voldemort went after my parents!?" Rose yelled angrily, her green eyes almost glowing in the dim light of the room.
Harry was immensely happy about the wards and charms he had placed around the shrieking shack earlier in the evening: silencing wards, notice-me-not charms, and several others. He was pretty sure that if he had not put up those silencing wards, everyone in Hogsmeade would believe that the shack was now haunted by a banshee.
"Now you see why I hate Snape. If you'd like, later on, I'll show you my memory of when Dumbledore told me of the prophecy. Just promise me that you will not go after Snape. I have plans for him later." Harry said as he was tried to calm down the furiously muttering red head.
"Not only does he take it out on me, but he is the reason why I have no parents! That bastard! I'll fucking kill him! I'll have his head on a goddamned pike!"
"Actually Rose, the prophecy is the reason that Voldemort went after our parents." Harry said, shocking Rose from her muttering. He waited a moment to make sure that he had her complete attention before pulling a silvery strand from his temple and putting it in the pensieve. He stirred it, the tapped the rim twice with his wand, and an image of Trelawney rose from the bowl and began to revolve slowly. Her voice sounded eerie and hollow as she began to recite the prophecy. "The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the dark lord shall mark them," 'Them,' Harry thought. 'Must have changed with the dimension, but why would it change my memory…?' "As his equal, but they will have power the dark lord knows not. And either shall die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives…"
The image sank back into the bowl and Rose paled dramatically. "I'm pretty sure that it applies to you too, Rose. I could have been Neville Longbottom, seeing as he was born the thirtieth of July…as the seventh month dies." Harry said softly. He knew Rose's next question and headed her off before she could ask it. "Your scar, Rose. He marked you."
Rose's finger traced the contour of her scar and she whimpered pitifully. Harry wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. "You have me, too." He said. Rose smiled shakily up at him.
"Now, do you have any more questions?"
"Yes," Rose said right away. "Is Draco a death eater?"
"Oh yeah," Harry said emotionlessly. "I tortured and killed him myself." At Rose's expression of revulsion, Harry hastened to explain himself. "He and a group of death eaters had attacked an orphanage. I found Malfoy raping and torturing a helpless muggle girl. I…kinda lost my temper."
Rose's eyes dulled. She would have done the exact same thing, had she come across Malfoy raping someone, probably extending the torture as long as possible. She decided to move on to another subject. "You mentioned horcruxes. What are they?"
"They're the reason Voldemort is immortal," Harry said softly. "He tore his soul into pieces with a ritual and stored them inside various objects. All of them must be destroyed so that Voldemort can be killed. I don't want you to worry about them, though. I already have a plan to destroy them. From what I've checked the past week, all of the horcruxes are located the same places in this dimension as they were in mine, except for one: the Ring of Slytherin, which might be in Dumbledore's possession." Harry said Dumbledore's name with distaste.
"Do you really hate Dumbledore that much?" Rose asked. She could see why Harry didn't trust the ancient man, but she didn't understand where he vehemence came from. When Harry told her Dumbledore had hired the same man that was the reason why she had no parents, all her respect for him was gone. The fact that Dumbledore used legillimency on his students didn't help matters either, but Dumbledore did things with the best of intentions…didn't he?
"I do." Harry said simply. "Because everything bad in my life has come either directly or indirect from him. I still haven't made peace with him and I doubt I will make peace with him anytime soon. The only reason I didn't kill Snape when it was revealed to me that he was responsible for our parents death, was because the order still needed him and Dumbledore had tricked me by twisting his words so that they told me nothing while placating me. I still say it was his fault for not leaving me to be raised by another family instead of those blasted Dursleys."
Rose couldn't help but agree with him.
"Harry, you don't have to answer this, but how did you get so strong? I mean, Voldemort has over fifty years of knowledge and even though you may have already graduated Hogwarts, you were only twenty years old when you defeated him, right?"
"Remember the part of the prophecy that says, 'powers the dark lord knows not'?"
Rose nodded.
"Well," Harry began. "There's a room in the Department of Mysteries that contains a power behind its locked door. When I entered that room I gained the 'power the dark lord knows not'." Taking a deep breath, Harry went on. "Once you enter that room your magical core will be…supercharged. I gained an enormous magical reserve and the ability to cast spells wandlessly. I'm not sure what you'll get."
"Wow, you mean, anyone who…"
"No," Harry interrupted her. "I can't explain it, but in my world, only I can enter this room. If the Prophecy is right, you may be able to enter it as well. The only thing I can tell you is, if you are too young or deemed unworthy of entering the room, you will die an extremely painful death. The process in the chamber is bad enough…I don't want to thing about what would happen if you aren't supposed to be in there."
Rose gulped. "Can we talk about this later, it sounds scary."
Harry didn't blame her. If only she knew how horrible it really was. That Chamber inside the Department of Mysteries was the key to Rose fulfilling her destiny, but at the same time, it could be the death of her.
He had entered that Chamber at the age of nineteen. He knew if he had tried entering it if he was any younger, he would have been found unworthy and died inside of the room.
"Now, on to buisness…" Harry quickly told her all about how his fourth year went, about the Dark Mark at the Quidditch World cup, Crouch Junior, the Tri-Wizard Tournament and what Voldemort's plans were about. There was a moment of silence as Harry finished his explaining things to her before Rose spoke up again, a pensive look on her face.
"Harry," Rose said quietly. "If you are my alternate male self, what should I call you? It feels really strange calling you my cousin now. Honestly, it would feel strange calling you my brother."
Harry shrugged and shook his head, just as dumbfounded as she was.
Seeing that Harry was just as flummoxed unsure as her, she quickly changed the subject.
"Just so you know, I am angry with you for lying to me, but I'm happy of course that you were willing to tell me the honest truth. It sure saves me the headache of what's going on. It's good to know why my name was placed in the Tri-Wizard Tournament and that I will eventually make up with my friends." Rose said unsure about the feeling that had her hoping that she would not reconcile with her friends. She didn't want Ron turning traitor because of jealously and Hermione dying, because she was friends with her. It was for the best that she stayed away from the both of them, so she could keep them from harms way.
Harry smiled in relief. He had been a bit worried as to how Rose would take this information. He was surprised at how mature she was, compared to him in his fourth year.
'I guess it is true, girls really do mature faster then us guys,' thought Harry. 'They're just more emotional compared to us.'
It didn't take long as Rose got more comfortable with Harry as both began talking a bit more about Harry's dimension, not to mention, skim through some of his more pleasant memories in the pensieve. After seeing Bill's wedding the pensieve, she hinted to Harry at how she wouldn't mind having a pensieve of her own.
Harry wasn't as clueless as most men his age. He took the hint and told her after they finished viewing all of his memories of his world that she could have the ensieve as an 'apology' gift.
While the two were talking, Harry couldn't believe how angry Rose seemed at the mention of Snape and Dumbledore. As much as Dumbledore had said he only considered what was best for Harry; and by extension, Rose, those words didn't placate Rose. She was a red head and a Potter, and from what he had seen, she could be really hot headed when she wanted to be. Rose seemed to be surprised and shocked at some of things that were different in Harry's dimension, compared to hers. One thing she was most impressed with was Harry's skills with a sword.
"The sword of Godric Gryffindor," The red head said thoughtfully. "Harry, I'm not sure if you might have already considered it, but do you think we might be his heirs?" Harry nodded absentmindedly and Rose noticed his thoughtful expression as well. "Harry, what's up?" asked Rose.
"I did have my suspicions that I was the possibly heir of Gryffindor after my second year. I mean, nothing is ever normal around us, so there was of course a possible chance of being Godric Gryffindor's last heir."
"You know something…" said Rose.
"Rose, did you know that you could be emancipated whenever you want? On my 17th birthday, Gringrotts approach me and told me about how Dumbledore had held me back from reading my parents will and kept me dark about my family vault until he considered it to be a good time to show us. Once he died I was able to read it without him stopping me or interfering." Clenching his hands, Harry spoke in an angry voice. "I learned in our parents will that Dumbledore was specifically ordered not to send us to the Dursleys should both our parents and Sirius be deceased or unable to take care of us. Should Sirius be unable to take care of us, we were to be sent to either the Moon family, James' mother's side of the family or any light family that would be capable of taking care of us so long as long as the Dursleys were out of the picture."
If Harry thought he saw Rose was really angry a while ago, she was nothing to how angry she looked down. She was positively radiating magic and Harry knew he was going to have to calm her down before she brought the entire shrieking shack down on them.
Casting a powerful wandless and wordless calming spell, Harry put an arm around Rose who started to cry again. 'Girls,' he thought exasperatedly.
"That… that old bastard, he knew of my parents will and hid it from me! He knew he wasn't supposed to send me to the Dursleys, but he still did. It makes me wonder if that bastard is trying to manipulate me all this time!"
Harry nodded grimly as he tried to comfort the girl in his arms. When he had found out about what Dumbledore had done to him, it took the combined might of the Order of the Phoenix who was present for Dumbledore's will and several of the most powerful Goblins in Gringrotts to calm him down. He was pretty sure he heard Remus say that if Harry had lost control… he would have leveled Gringotts bank.
That was the day that everyone had questioned his or her loyalty to Dumbledore. Withholding a persons will was considered an act of treason in the wizarding world; especially a well-known family like the Potters. It was even more frowned upon than casting the unforgivable curses.
"Anyway, after I read our parents will, I learned of Sirius will as well. It turned out that Sirius had wanted me to be emancipated as well, but Dumbledore had prevented me from going to his will reading. Instead, he thought it would be more considerate of him if he told me the news himself. However, all he told me was that Sirius left everything to me. He didn't mention anything about how Sirius gave me permission to be emancipated."
Rose could only growl in response. Though Harry hadn't showed her any memories of this, she knew what he told her was the truth. Harry would no doubt show her the memories if she asked, but she was unsure if she could hold her temper at this point. Hell, she was growing even more enraged at just the thought of Dumbledore.
"When I finished reading my parents will, I immediately set off to the Potter vault in which I discovered our family line. I learned there, that our family line, which was one of the oldest pureblood lines, that the last descendants of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had married into our family line, making us a descendant of the founders."
"So, it's true," Rose, said momentarily forgetting her anger. "Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw really had a child together."
Harry nodded.
"Yeah, in history books, it never did say who and how they had a child with or when, but many people find it odd that the Ravenclaw line had disappeared along with the Gryffindor line. The only lines that proudly display who they were are Slytherin and Hufflepuff."
"So what happened when you learned of our family line?" Rose said hopefully to know more about her… no, their family.
"Nothing much, but I did learn more about the Sword of Gryffindor. Only those heirs who show true loyalty to Hogwarts can wield his sword. Also, the sword is actually a shape-shifting weapon that will change itself to any blade most suited to the person wielding it. Very creative, I admit." Harry said thinking hard. He had his sword stored in his trunk. Did that mean that there were now two in this dimension? It was something he had to look in to.
"Wow, I have to get the sword back from Dumbledore!" Rose said excitedly, but then she frowned. "But I probably won't even know how to use it."
"I can teach you. It'll help you very much as Voldemort doesn't know how to use a sword. He puts Muggles weapons beneath him."
"Really?" Rose asked, her eyes shining with hope and excitement. "You'll teach me how to use weapons?"
"Of course, if you really forgive me for lying to you. I'll train you to be the strongest witch in your year, possibly, in your generation, whether it is weapons or magic." Harry said hopefully.
Rose simply laughed. "Harry, of course I forgive you, you prat. I was never really mad at you in the first place," she said, happy that Harry had considered about her happiness and her forgiveness as his top priority. She knew she could trust him. "And thank you, I would love for you to train me!" She said jumping on him for a hug.
Harry was inwardly amazed at the maturity that Rose showed. He had considered that Rose might have hexed him for lying to her, but she was simply so nice and kind!
A bit too trusting if he had to admit…
Just like he was back in his fourth year…